Rubin, Rick

Born Frederick Jay Rubin in 1963, Rubin was attending New York University when he and Russell Simmons founded the Def Jam record label in 1984. Rubin produced many early hip-hop artists, but also worked with hard rock bands such as Slayer as early as 1985. After a falling out with Simmons he formed Def American, later shortened to American Recordings. He has produced important albums by Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a series of albums by the late Johnny Cash.